February 24, 2009

I had such a great time this past weekend with my family, both my parents and my extended family on my dad's side. It had been at least 2 years since I'd seen some of them, and much longer since I had seen others!

We drove to Little Rock on Thursday night, and then on into Huntsville the next day. Well, I should say my dad, the driving machine, drove us there. Here he is--isn't he cute?! =)

My dad's cousin, Jim and his wife Betty Jane, let us stay with them at their beautiful new home. They live in a gorgeous neighborhood, surrounded by tall, graceful trees. They just finished building a wonderful arbor and outdoor kitchen in their backyard. Justin would have loved it, so I had to take these pictures to share with him!

On Saturday, we had two birthday celebrations for my sweet Aunt Louise. We had a reception for her at her assisted living home, as well as a family party back at Jim and Betty's home that evening. For being 90 years old, she is looking great and is still so in tune with everything going on. I was so glad that I came with my parents because I was able to spend some quality time with her! I made her a shawl, and this is her opening it! Hopefully it will keep her warm!

Everyone who knows my Aunt Louise knows she loves butterflies. She has so many beautiful butterfly figurines decorating her home, as well as many pins. It is pretty much a guarantee that anytime you see her, she will be wearing at least one butterfly on her somewhere! Here are some pictures of the party at her home.

This is Piper, my cousin Greg's little girl. She is in first grade and was such a great help in serving all the guests their cake and punch!! What a cutie!! She and I had such a fun time together! Here is Greg, her dad, and her little brother Grayden. He was such a cute little guy, and make us all laugh the whole time! He though it would be great to "dress-up" his dad as well!!

Here is Aunt Louise wearing a pair of butterfly wings all of her friends had given her!! We joked that it only took her 90 years to get her very own wings!

Later in the evening, we had dinner back at Jim and Betty's house. This is a family picture of all of us together! What a great weekend had by all!! Hopefully I'll get to see them all again soon!!One more wonderful thing to share...our friends, Bill and Denise, who I asked for you to pray for in this blog, have had their baby!! His name is Brock Rohloff, and he was born at 38 weeks--14 weeks after his mom went on bedrest!! Delivery was pretty rough, but he is here and he is healthy!! Thanks for your prayers--I'm so happy to share this great update and adorable picture!!

What a fun trip! I am so glad that your parents and in-laws will be so close now. We pray for you and Justin everyday that the next round will work. I love you and miss you both. Tell your parents that I say, 'hello'.